With the Splendour 2017 vibe all but wrapped up, and as we’ve seen over the past few years, Aussie music has never been in a stronger place. Festivals are being headlined by local acts and even the relatively newer acts are encouraging some big hype.
A bunch of locally fresh artists killed their gigs this year at Splendour, and these five are ripe to absolutely go big. Get them into your playlist, because you’ll be seeing them playing huge shows very soon.
Young Franco
If you like: Jamiroquai, Purple Disco Machine, Golden Features, Running Touch, Armand Van Helden, Duck Sauce.
This young Brisbane lad is going places. Some seriously funky places. His vibrant set on day one was super fun, his set mixing up delicious bass lines with up tempo disco vibes. With sneaky little hits of R&B including some 112, and more current artists like Anderson .Paak, Franco had the crowd in his hands. With only a few singles actually released, he impressively played half of a remixed version of his hit Drop Your Love On Me midway through his set, and finished off the performance with a normal version of the song.
The perfect modern disco feel, you got the sense a wonderfully danceable set like this would have you dancing no matter your age.
Winston Surfshirt
If you like: Tame Impala, A Tribe Called Quest, Polographia, De La Soul, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Toro y Moi, Eric B. & Rakim.
Relatively fresh To the triple j airwaves, Winston Surfshirt are a refreshingly good addition to the Aussie music carousel. They literally feel like the birth child of Tame Impala and A Tribe Called Quest, a six-piece that features everything from live DJ decks, to bass to trumpets. With vocals not dissimilar to Kevin Parker from TI, their music, while a bit more mellow in the studio, is brought to life live.
The live trumpet is enough to warrant going to their next gig, and as they build up to their first full release you’ll want to stay close them. Oh and did we mention that they closed with a cover of HUMBLE by Kendrick? Yeah that happened, was amazing.
Middle Kids
If you like: Methyl Ethel, Haim, London Grammar, Ali Barter, Montaigne, Meg Mac, Gang Of Youths, Ball Park Music.
With a cruisey indie vibe that is made for open drives down long highways, the Middle Kids are relatively new on the scene, yet already command respect. Despite having an early set at Splendour 2017, a strong crowd still fled to see the Sydney trio. Their set grew with energy, their music filled with warmth and made for summer.
Lead singer Hannah Joy is also impressively brilliant, despite not having heaps to say on stage, she had a definite presence and aura as she led the performance. By the time they finished with their massive hit Edge Of Town the crowd was truly feeling it.
Meg Mac
If you like: Thelma Plum, Airling, Lorde, Tash Sultana, Amy Shark, Vera Blue, Emma Louise, Lisa Mitchell.
Look, it’s hard to say that a talent such as Melbourne’s Meg Mac hasn’t taken off already, as she’s about to walk into a bumper, national, sold out tour. But this captivating performance at Splendour impressed, dazzled, intrigued and shone as something special. It was a simple setup, no big band or production, really just Meg and her piano – and that’s testament alone to her big voice and soulful presence.
Rolling through her extensive catalogue despite only having one full release record, Mac oozes class. Even bringing her sister on stage to help out, you can tell she legitimately cares about the music she creates. Her powerful and intimate vocals have captured Australia, it’s only a matter of time before she’s overseas selling out venues.
Moonbase
If you like: Skrillex, Diplo, Stormzy, Flosstradamus, RL Grime, Flux Pavilion, Fetty Wap, Hudson Mohawke, DJ Snake, Anderson .Paak.
FKA Moonbase Commander, the Sydney producer has put an Aussie spin on grime. His music is a heavy dose of EDM versus grime influence, with a dash of trap and rap. Also sporting a similarly early set at Splendour, his set would not have gone out of place at a headlining time in the evening.
Running at a fast pace, Moonbase’s set and music for that matter, is the antagonist for chilled nights at home. Ideally made for a dimly lit venue at peak capacity, Moonbase is a producer who is making waves quickly. His drops were big and atmospheric with no lack of heavy bass, and despite being solo on stage (apart from a surprise appearance from Ecca Vandal to perform their tune Oblivion), he controlled the crowd like a pro.
Image source: Bianca Holderness, Mitch Lowe, Ian Laidlaw.